10.28.2009

finally some good news

The son of ex-French President Francois Mitterrand and an ex-government minister have been convicted for their roles in illegal arms sales to Angola.

Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was given a two-year suspended sentence, and ex-Interior Minister Charles Pasqua was jailed for one year by the Paris court.

They were convicted of accepting bribes to facilitate arms deals to Angola in 1993-98, in breach of French law.

Two key figures were sentenced to six years each in their absence.

Prosecutors accused Israeli-Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak and French magnate Pierre Falcone of being the key figures in the arms trafficking worth $790m (£485m).

Gaydamak and Falcone were accused of buying tanks, helicopters and artillery pieces and then selling them to Angola during its civil war, through a French-based firm and its subsidiary in Eastern Europe.

Falcone was arrested and imprisoned as soon as the sentence was passed. Gaydamak is living in Russia, Associated Press reported.

Mitterrand, an Africa adviser to his father in the Elysee Palace, was ordered to pay 375,000 euros (£340,000), and Pasqua was fined 100,000 euros, while two years of his prison sentence were suspended.

In total 42 people were on trial.

The scandal was dubbed "Angola-gate" by the French press as details of murky deals involving politicians, businessmen, public figures and weapons were revealed.

I don't know all the details of the sentence, but, yeah, obviously it's problematic. The larger point, however, is that a prominent French citizen - and son of a former president - actually got in trouble for this stuff. That's new and hopefully a sign of more serious work to come.

This link is only in Portuguese, but here is my rough translation of what the Angolan government is saying:

http://www.angonoticias.com/full_headlines_.php?id=25540

"The government of Angola has shown itself stupefied by the decision of a Parisian court, which sentenced French citizens who, at an opportune moment, helped guarantee the defense of the State and the democratic process when it was faced with a subversive armed group condemned by the international community and the United Nations in particular."

In sum: they did nothing wrong, we vehemently deny that this was a crime, and hate that this was done in Angola's name.